Opal Sunn (Alex Kassian and Hiroaki OBA) believe in unicorns, leprechauns and mermaids. This is their first offering for the ESP Institute. The A side leads with 'The Problem With George', a percussive monster at a half-time tempo that goes deep with a dual mission; to successively build round after round while keeping the listeners mind and body in an ecstatic state of surrender. Imagine the dancefloor pumping, and at a dynamic peak the DJ halves the timing and wipes the floor with your spinal fluid. On the flip, 'The Mystery Of Mr Lee' takes a similar approach in terms of arc and arrangement, although replacing the analogue percussion with 16th-note arpeggios of synthetic steel, glass and tubes. Beneath this glistening veneer lies another scale-wandering melody constructed of machine toms that eventually opens up, morphing into a more decisive hook, wrapping more tightly around the drum pattern before retreating back beneath layers. If dropped at the opportune time, let’s say the sensitive blue morning before dawn cracks, we expect a dancefloors to reach the highest level of psychedelic escape, after which hugs are essential. These two songs will tuck you in and kiss you goodnight. More

Hey world, what happened?

Well anyway, Touch From A Distance is still here. Scratching our heads in awe of the ever-changing standstill of the past three years, we managed to get the ball rolling again with the help of Melbourne brothers extraordinaire Donald's House who have honed their skills during lockdown downunder to achieve the impossible: They got even better while pivoting towards a slightly different sound: Determined and muscular, yet trippy and playful. Juggling classic Acid and Progressive House tropes coupled with their prowess for perfectly balanced arrangements and catchy melodies, both „Bassian Plain“ and „The Isthmus Of Kra“ epitomise Pete's and Jim's peak time powers to fullest. The same goes for Alex Kassian's remix of „Bassian Plain“. Like Donald's House, Alex has been a core member of the Touch From A Distance family as one half of Opal Sunn from the start. He used the reset brought on by the pandemic to establish himself as one of the fastest rising stars of today's nightlife striking home with a slew of hit remixes and inspiring dj sets all over the world (keep your eyes peeled for a meeting of DH and AK in Australia soon). More

When talking about the sheer quality of dance music coming out of Melbourne, it’s often commented that there must be something in the water. And with their second EP on Nick Höppner’s Touch From A Distance imprint, the Melbourne based duo, Donald’s House, are doing everything they can to prove that statement right. Continuing on with their signature 90s house meets Paradise Garage era disco sound, the Rainbow Gelato EP is a homage to their love of sweet treats, and their mother’s prowess with an ice cream machine. Starting off the EP is Rainbow Gelato – an M1 banger that’ll get even the most discerning house head moving. Featuring an irresistibly groovy bassline, piano hooks that unite dance floors with jiggling fingers, sax solos, and an almost obnoxiously long drum break down – Rainbow Gelato is beautifully familiar in its sound pallet, yet completely original in its composition. Slowing things down on the A2 is Cosmic Sorbet, an 80s boogie sounding track that tugs on emotional heartstrings with its sax work, Rhodes chords, arpeggiated flutes and tom rolls. Flipping over the record, you’ll find Pseudo Affogato – a more hypnotic number with lush chords, euphoric noodles and a plucky bassline. To finish off the EP, the duo goes back to the dancefloor with Piano Parfait. A punchy little weapon with dramatic chords, keyboard slides, and a horn section that’s reminiscent of a Latin big band. By channelling their musicality and their love of the 80s tinged drums, Donald’s House has delivered another quality EP, that’s destined to get people’s hips wiggling for quite some time to come. More

On our seventh release we are thrilled to add a new name to our roster. Cameo Blush is the project of John Dunk from London. Some might already know him as a member of Ross From Friends live. Listening to The „Murky Waters“ EP, it is hard to believe this actually is Cameo Blush's debut release. Every track is oozing with emotional depth, invention and a purposeful confidence. „Murky Waters“, all glistening arpeggios and seductive alien vocals, sounds like a hyperkinetic dollie shot through a Manga style metropolis. „Hypervisibility“ then is taking clues from masters of abstract Electronica like Isolée, Lusine and Boards Of Canada, creating an audible allegory of longing and sensuality. „Prophet Paradise“ on the b-side soundtracks the holodeck projection of a dayglow beach under a neon sun. And finally, „Year 2000 Problem“ resumes the futuristic Manga theme evoking images of bots passing the Turing test, overflowing with joy and falling desperately in love. More

After providing Touch From A Distance's inaugural release not even one year ago, the mighty Desert Sound Colony is returning to Nick Ho¨ppner's label for another round on the bouncy bounce, his bubble gun at the ready! It's no exaggeration to say Desert Sound Colony smashed it on all fronts in the past year: He put himself firmly on the map by pushing his own label Holding Hands with a fresh take on beloved tropes of UK club music. His number of gigs also increased dramatically and he popped his Panorama Bar cherry earlier this year at the first TFAD label night, where he unleashed a joyous assault of beats and bass whipping the crowd into a frenzy. His new EP for Touch From A Distance is an algamation of all the good stuff we've come to expect from the London based DJ and producer: Opener „Zenome Archetype“ is a retrofuturistic joyride across mountainous bass and funked up syncopation. „Taking It Out For A Rip“ then couples a thumping 4/4-UKG-Beat with a cheeky vocal sample, while „Walrus Rodeo“ slows down the tempo and cranks up the folly for a slice of weird dancefloor fun Desert Sound Colony does so well. „Al Gore Rhythmic“, a collaboration with Guava, closes the EP channeling classic 2-Step and golden era HipHop vibes. More